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The last time Baltimore Orioles rookie Brandon Young faced the Houston Astros he took a perfect game into the eighth inning. In his 11th career start Young became only the fifth rookie in 50 years to have a perfect game through 7 2/3 innings. He finished his memorable outing allowing one hit with no walks and six strikeouts in eight scoreless innings.
Young squared off against the Astros again on Thursday. And although the starts were separated by just six days, they were worlds apart. The Astros thrashed the first-year righty, racking up seven runs on nine hits and two walks in 5 1/3 innings.
Despite the rough outing, Houston didn’t chase the young hurler from the game. The Astros did their damage early, scoring all seven runs in the first three innings. Young left the game after injuring his left hamstring, per The Athletic’s Chandler Rome.
Rookie starter Brandon Young falls back to earth in Orioles loss
The Orioles' pitcher had actually settled in a bit after an extremely rocky start. He retired 10 of the final 12 batters he faced after giving up a two-run homer to Yainer Diaz in the third inning. Young took the mound for the sixth inning and got Jacob Melton to ground out to first base on the first pitch he threw. But he was then removed with hamstring discomfort as the Orioles replaced the rookie with Yaramil Hiraldo.
Baltimore’s bullpen didn’t allow the game to get further out of hand. Three Orioles relievers combined to throw 3 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and one walk. The team’s offense however, playing without injured catcher Adley Rutschman, couldn't mount a comeback after Houston’s early onslaught.
Since Young’s bid for perfection on August 16 the Astros had lost five of six games including four straight. Houston was able to snap its losing streak Thursday with a 7-2 victory. Less than a week after earning his first career win, Young was handed his seventh loss of the season.
The Orioles entered Thursday’s matchup winning six of their last seven games. Despite the hot streak, Baltimore remains out of the payoff picture. The team is 14.5 games behind the first-place Toronto Blue Jays in the AL East and 8.5 games back in the Wild Card hunt.
